“My mom deserves love,” I said. “And she especially deserves a little action. But I don’t need a new father, just so we’re clear.”
“Lee.”Mom was aghast.
Ethan rolled with it. “Message received and appreciated. Not trying to step on any toes.”
I nodded. “Good. Glad we got that out of the way.” I swept a hand inside. “You two can come in.” I turned to Alexis. “You can’t. You’ve been banned.”
She tossed her head and stomped past me anyway.
So that’s how I found myself hosting a party, even though my plans for the evening had consisted only of more mirror-staring while contemplating where my life went wrong. Caving to an aggressive lobbying effort by my mom, I’d even put on pants. But that didn’t mean I had to enjoy myself. My home had been invaded.
“At my last party, a stranger got naked and rubbed that on his balls,” I said to Claire, as she picked up the remote to startIt’s a Wonderful Life. She dropped the remote like it was on fire and gave me an evil look. I’d washed the thing, obviously. But Claire didn’t have to know that.
“Sometimes my cats like to spontaneously vomit,” I said to Ted the finance guy. “It’s so weird. You can never tell when they’re about to start.” Both of Ted’s hands froze midscratch, and Al and Bill looked up to see what the holdup was. Ted peered at them nervously.
Ha. Spreading holiday gloom. Now I knew how the Grinch felt, and it was pretty good.
“Lee, come help me in the kitchen,” my mom called.
Grumbling, I staggered out of the armchair and slumped into the kitchen. Ethan was wearing a little chef’s apron he had to have brought with him, because it certainly wasn’t mine. He was in the midst of arranging the food into a beautiful spread over my dining table.
“Looks good,” I mumbled, stuffing an iced cookie in my mouth. “Like a magazine.”
Ethan beamed. “Thank you. I took a class—”
“I went to see Dad,” I interrupted, grabbing my sad bourbon-less eggnog from the counter.
That stopped everyone in their tracks. Alexis whipped around from the stove. “At the cemetery?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, at the mall.”
“Well,excuseme. You’ve never gone to see him before.”
Mom walked over and rested her hands on my shoulders. “What did you say to him?”
“Just, you know...” I looked away. “That I forgive him. And I’d be by more often.” I didn’t mention I was still waiting on his answer to my last question:Do you forgive me?
Her eyes shone. “I’m so glad, Lee. I’m proud of you.”
I let her hug me for a second, then backed out of her arms. “It’s not a big deal. I just thought you’d want to know.” I waved at Ethan. “Seeing as how you’re moving on and all.”
“God, you’re being such an Eeyore.” Alexis busied herself with the bread bowl. “Be happy for those of us who found love.”
“How’s Chris?” I shot back. “Did he not come because he’s with his other girlfriend’s family?”
I hightailed it out of the kitchen before Alexis’s roll nailed me in the forehead.
“So, spill,” Mac said, as I walked into the living room. She’d finished with the Christmas tree and had shoved Al and Bill over to sit next to Ted on the couch. Clifford the tree blinked hopefully at me, its little string lights not doing much to hide the way it listed hopelessly to the left. “Why aren’t you drinking anymore?”
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Annie even froze midstocking hang.
“I’m just taking a break,” I said, clutching my eggnog.To make sure I can, I added to myself. “A reset. I figured I could stand to take it down a notch.”
Claire raised her eyebrows.Great.Here it came. The teasing and skepticism from my friends. But, to my surprise, she said, “Meagan and Molly are planning a few dry months. Maybe I could do it with you.”
“Meagan and Molly?”
“They’re her new mom friends.” Simon tied off a perfect bow on a present. “They’re planning a big holiday yoga party for all the students at Mikey’s school. It’s good stress relief for kidsandparents, you know.”
